For thousands of years, the magical world of Aetheria stood strong, its land vast in an unending expanse could be varied as dozens of Earth joined together. It was ruled solely by the immortal emperor Gregor, who remained on the throne for centuries.
During his reign, the world of Aetheria was invaded by evil magic beasts who arose from dungeons through portals, seeking only destruction and chaos. The death of Gregor in the peak of battle and sorrowful cry of the inhabitants of the land awoke the great primordial dragon, Zordon.
Zordon empowered them to fight back, resorting in the awakening of mages, magical knights, and adventurers.
It also created an onyx core with the ability to seal the portals immediately they appeared.
Only if the seal was totally broken or the dungeon within cleared, there was no way out. After these, Zordon then went back to sleep.
Since then, the world of Aetheria was ruled by various nobles who comprised the great three sets of warriors awakened by the dragon. They overtook the throne from the heir of Gregor since he hadn't fallen under any of the Three.
Adventurers, mages, knights, all distributed in various ranks, in accordance with their strength.
***
In the former capital of Aetheria, which was now referred to as Nillis, a city overrun by two powerful opposing nobles, a group of warriors strutted into a throne room. Metal clanking as they walked further, their gaze set on a fat man who sat on a golden throne, various guards surrounding him.
Stopping about eighteen meters from the throne, they fell on their knees, head bowing towards the stainless ground.
"Rise!" the fat noble commanded authoritatively, his aura shaking the whole place. In immediate response, they all stood up.
"Have you confirmed the high-ranked dungeon's existence?"
"Yes, Lord Krel," answered one of the knights who walked closer to the throne, his eyes peering towards the ground, fidgeting.
The fat noble paused, his fingers tapping on his chin. A dungeon with such a high rank had only appeared twice in decades, recently their numbers increasing.
Though it was quite dangerous to raid such a dungeon without contemplation, he didn't have a choice. There was a lot of competition and they had to take any chance they had to grow larger.
Such a dungeon had its merits and demerits. They would require a lot of warriors surrounding the portal along with high-rank warriors who would go into the dungeon to overtake it. They would also need a high number of slaves who would gather the resources amidst the battle.
He took one glance at his emerald ring, a material which had made him become one of the most feared nobles, which was also retrieved from a raid like this. Not only would such a raid grant them resources, it would also give them enough strength to attack lower nobles.
He made up his mind. "Commence the preparations now!" he roared.
***
Lex breathed casually, proceeding to accept his first quest. After which, the system briefly explained all he should know about Aetheria.
He gazed at the fluorescent screen; the introduction of Aetheria which the system explained, was no different than the one he had written in his Novel. Although it would have helped a lot if he was the main character of the story. He would have an idea or two about what would happen next.
Ordinarily, Mana wielders which includes knights, mages and adventurers in Aetheria, were born with the power.
But the survival system had offered a way to fall into that aspect by only annihilating the dungeon monsters.
Lex laid sideways on the cemented prison ground, focused on the fluorescent screen which now projected;
{Quest count down}
{Seven days}
{Or you will remain a servant}
{Good luck on your quest host!}
Lex, stood up pacing, now he had to find a way to escape from this cell, he glanced around the cell for anything that could be of use to him, but it was all to no avail, only a pile of rocks and hale wooden covers scattered around the cell.
"System," Lex echoed in his mind, "how can I get out of here?"
{I cannot render a solution to your question}
{ it's a part of the quest}
The mechanical voice of the system responded coldly.
A silent chuckle came from the dark cell opposite of where Lex stood.
"Who's there?" Lex asked, stunned, moving closer to his bars.
A mocking female voice then responded from the other end. "Do you really think you can roam free again?" "Once you're behind these bars you'll be lucky enough to be a pawn in the hands of the nobles."
The figure then moved closer to her cell bars. The dim light from the torches, revealing he sublime form.
Lex eyes widened as his gaze fell on the busty girl, she had a long curly hair which dropped down to her abdomen.
Her upper chest area along with her waist was covered by furry clothing, which barely did it's job.
Lex jaw dropped at the sight of her ravishing beauty, not only that, but because she was a half human half beast.
Amidst his pure excitement he relaxed and spoke, "I'm Lex, what's yours?"
The fur clothed girl was taken aback, an emotional glint of surprise appeared in both of her eyes as she stared at the blonde servant right before her.
Her mocking tone vanished, as she gazed towards the other side of the cell, her Left shoulder resting on the bar.
I'm kate she replied shrewdly, while pouting.
"You're different from the others," she continued as she peered deeply back at lex, "what can I say," beast kin, servants, "I guess in a way we're all the same." Replied Lex sincerely.
Kate then continued, "Do you really know some way out of here?"
"I have no idea at all," snuffed lex holding on to the bars intensely. "So we are really going to be executed uhn?"
"Not at all," replied Kate, a glimpse of hope shone on Lex's blue eyes as he heard Kate's words.
"So you're saying we aren't going to be executed" asked Lex excitedly.
"Yes" replied Kate, calmly.